Approximately one-third of the total annual U.S. energy use is in residential and commercial buildings. Most of this energy is used for space heating and cooling, ventilation, and water heating. Software is used daily by designers to size building systems to meet these needs, but less frequently, software is used to optimize energy use. The next generation of design software should automatically optimize energy use through detailed computational models and expert-system routines.
The initial steps in a long-term effort to develop an advanced building energy systems design software at KU have been undertaken with support from the KU Energy Research Center. The ultimate goal is the development and maintenance of an industry-leading building design software. Potential outside funding sources for such work are the DOE and its national laboratories, NSF, KEURP and EPRI, GRI, KCCC, ASHRAE, and HVAC manufacturers such as Carrier, Trane, and York.
In a pilot project funded by the KU Energy Research Center, a Windows 95/98-based shell program was developed using MS VisualBasic. The results are being used to seek research funds from outside sources. Four proposals totaling nearly $380,000 have been submitted to date on related topics including Automating Thermal Zoning Decisions, Methods to Calculate the Cooling Times and Loads of Fruits and Vegetables Using Hydrocooling, Pilot Post-Doctoral HVAC&R Engineering Internship, and Development of Room Air Distribution Design Guide.